One-third of outstanding Israeli schools are from Arab sector

[shira]

Fifty-two percent of students graduating from the Israel Arts and Science Academy in Jerusalem received an "outstanding" grade on their matriculation exams - the highest percentage among all high schools in the country.

According to data for the 2007-08 school year, published by the Education Ministry Sunday, the academy was rated far above the second-best school: the Albion Academy in Sajur, with 40.6 percent. Third was Horev, a private religious school for girls in Jerusalem (36.0 percent), fourth was the Baptist High School in Nazareth (31.2 percent), and fifth was the state religious school for girls in Ramat Gan (31.0 percent).

The lion's share of the 15 top-performing schools were semi-private, or "recognized but unofficial," institutions that receive some state funding, but also charge high tuition and accept only excellent students.

About 40 percent of the best performers were national religious schools, and 33 percent were Arab schools. Only 26 percent were ordinary secular schools.

more...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1109607.html

[shira]

1. wow!

That's some Jim Crow racist system of apartheid there!

Arab schools perform better than secular schools, and at 33% the Arab schools are performing beyond their demographics (Arabs make up less than 20% of the population).

Gosh - Israel sucks at apartheid and racism! Epic fail for the zionasties in Israel!

[Kurska]

2. I don't even see why you try, of course none of the usually hate Israel First brigade is going to

comment on this.

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Who's part of this 'hate Israel First brigade'?

I'm curious to know who you consider to be part of it. Am I one? And has it occurred to you that there are other very legitimate reasons why some posters in this forum don't engage in discussion with the poster you were replying to?

[Kurska]

4. You're not one.

I've always found you tend to have informed somewhat nuanced opinions and I will usually try to understand where you are coming from.
I'm not saying anything about responding to Shira in particular. Although, I doubt you could deny there are posters that either avoid discussing anything remotely pro-Israel or only enter into such threads to try and drag it down into a brutal flame war over what should be a positive topic.

[Violet_Crumble]

5. Fair enough...

I thought you were talking about responding to that poster in particular...

No, there's no denying that there are some posters who do what you say, though there are some also that act the same way when it comes to positive things about Palestinians. It's probably down to the polarising effect a forum like this can have, where to some admitting even something slightly positive about 'the other' is seen by themselves as a sign of weakness....

[Kurska]

6. I know some posters who won't seem to respond to me either, I don't take it personally.

Likewise there are posters I don't even bother to read... I already know what they are going to say.
Yes.. The whole "Sign of weakness" business is pretty dirty dealing, really doesn't help the level of discourse on this forum.

[subsuelo]

7. you're preaching about the level of discourse in this forum?

After just making that asinine claim that a "hate Israel First brigade" exists here?

:crazy:

[subsuelo]

8. Yeah and a black president proves racism is non-existent in America

:crazy:

(Sorry, better luck next time?)

[shira]

9. let's see, what happens when we compare schools in black suburban areas to others in the USA?

now compare to schools from the Arab sector to others within Israel.

no contest.....looks like the USA has a whole lotta catching up to do with Israel.

:)

so sorry to bust up your hate party, sweetie!

[subsuelo]

10. my hate party?

posting comments that challenge your views constitutes a "hate party"?

:crazy:

[LeftishBrit]

15. That comment was hardly a 'hate party'...

As regards the schools, I am very glad that some of the Arab schools are so good; but I don't think that this means that Israeli Arabs suffer no discrimination within Israel, or that the fact that most Jews and Arabs go to separate schools doesn't have negative consequences for both groups. I would also like to know more about the *worst* schools as well as the best.

[LeftishBrit]

11. It sounds as though the common denominator for high performance...

is some degree of initial selection of pupils. Pupils who start out better end up better (not v. surprising). It's the same in the UK.

I would like to know more about the nature of the Arab schools that did well vs less well; I suspect selection is important there too.

[Scurrilous]

12. East Jerusalem lags behind west as school begins

<snip>

"Thousands of children in Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods were kept out of classrooms on the first day of school Tuesday because of Israeli government neglect, activists and human rights groups said.

The Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem lack more than 1,000 classrooms needed to accommodate schoolchildren, according to the report issued by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Ir Amim, an Israeli nonprofit that promotes coexistence in the city.

The report estimates that more than 5,000 would-be students in east Jerusalem were not enrolled in any school.

"There has been a huge increase in the population in east Jerusalem, and that has not been followed by a huge increase in classroom construction," said Sarah Kreimer, associate director of Ir Amim."

<snip>

"Of the nearly 90,000 children between 5 and 18 years old living in east Jerusalem, fewer than half were enrolled in municipal public schools last year, the report said.

Students who don't make it into public school because of the classroom shortage are forced to consider private schools, often at a steep cost, Kreimer said. Some families get priced out, and many students end up at home.

The report also said many existing classrooms were "small, crowded, unventilated and lacking support classes or playgrounds."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090901/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians_back_to_school

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LeftishBrit]

14. I don't think whatever school YOU attended would come top of any list ...

at least in teaching people how to write logically or comprehensibly!